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On Tuesday, the 2007 Baltic Football League tournament kicked off. In the first two matches, both Lithuanian teams celebrated victories - Panevėžys "Ekranas" beat Tallinn's "TVMK" in Vilnius after a tough battle, while Vilnius "Vėtra" played in Tallinn against the local "Flora" and convincingly won thanks to three goals in the second half.
Vilnius "Sportimos" arena Referee - R. Lajuks (Latvia) 2 - 1 10' [1 - 0] Giedrius Tomkevičius 34' [2 - 0] Liivo Leetma (own goal) 70' [2 - 1] Artur Ossipov (pen.)
"Ekranas": Stefanovič; Skroblas, L.Klimavičius, Rimavičius, Padaigis; Bička, Tomkevičius, Savėnas, Pogreban (46' Petrauskas (85' Galkevičius)); Kavaliauskas, Lukšys (70' Varnas)
"TVMK": Teleš; Kacanovs, Saviauk, Borissov, Mashitshev; Jurgenson, Konsa, Haavistu, Ossipov; Terekhov, Leetma
In the match against "TVMK" in Vilnius, "Ekranas" had to do without two of their important defenders - Dainius Gleveckas and Gediminas Paulauskas were absent from the Panevėžys team due to a cold. The team also did not have the newcomer Andrius Šidlauskas, as his transfer from "Šiauliai" formalities were not completed on time.
The Panevėžys team started the match much more actively, quickly taking the initiative and almost conceding an own goal in the fifth minute when the "TVMK" defender did not communicate with the goalkeeper. In the ninth minute, "Ekranas" launched a dangerous attack and the goalkeeper punched the cross ball out of bounds. Deimantas Bička crossed perfectly from the left corner, and Giedrius Tomkevičius rose higher than any goalkeeper in the area and sent the hosts ahead with a strong header.
This goal seemed to awaken the Estonian players, and after ten minutes they received a good pass from the right side and shot the ball over the goal from about 12 meters away.
Just a few minutes later, "Ekranas" had to extinguish a dangerous situation in the penalty area - the goalkeeper successfully punched the ball off the ground after a shot from the left side of the penalty area.
In the 34th minute, a penalty kick on the left side near the penalty area was earned by D.Bička. The former "Ventspils" player lifted the ball into the penalty area himself, where, tangled up with Linas Klimavičius, the ball was sent into his own goal by veteran Liivo Leetma.
However, it was this player who stood out with his actions among the "TVMK" players.
Shortly after, an impressive shot from a very acute angle by Sergej Pogreban hit the top corner of the goal, but was knocked out by the Estonian club goalkeeper with his fingertips. This episode was followed by two consecutive corners, but the Estonians eventually managed to successfully defend.
With five minutes left to play in the first half, after a corner kick, L.Leetma shot towards the "Ekranas" goal from ten meters, but his shot was slightly off target. A few minutes later, V.Kavaliauskas tested the goalkeeper's reaction from five meters away, but he failed to score, and the teams went into the dressing rooms with the score at 2-0.
The second half saw "Ekranas" not only change its lineup, but also its tactical scheme: having played 4-4-2 before, S.Širmelis' disciples switched to a 4-5-1 tactical scheme. The young Donatas Petrauskas, who appeared instead of S.Pogreban on the field, formed a defensive midfield duo with G.Tomkevičius, while V.Kavaliauskas, who had been a forward until then, became the right-back.
As the second half showed, this tactical change did not work out very well: "TVMK" started the second half very actively and took the initiative. After playing just a few minutes, B.Stefanovič repelled a shot with his legs from a "TVMK" player, and after a lifted corner kick, the Slovak player courageously fell between the legs of two Estonian club players. Although the Estonians called for a penalty kick from eleven meters, the referee did not award it, and B.Stefanovič, who suffered an injury, lay on the artificial grass for almost five minutes before continuing the game after the doctors examined him.
With about fifteen minutes left to play, L.Klimavičius brought down Mikk Haavist, and the referee awarded a penalty kick and a yellow card to the young "Ekranas" defender. Arturas Ossipovas took the penalty kick and struck precisely into the lower corner of the goal, with B.Stefanovič unable to help his team.
As the match neared its end, "TVMK" attacked a lot, but the "Ekranas" counter-attacks were equally dangerous: first, after an impressive run by D.Petrauskas down the right side of the field, D.Bička missed the target from the center of the penalty area, and a few minutes later, A.Skroblas disrupted his teammate's shot in the penalty area.
However, perhaps the best missed opportunity of the whole match was created in the last minute of added time, when after a perfect pass from the left side, O.Konsa from about three meters away missed the goal with a header.
Tallinn's "Sportland Arena", 300 spectators Referee - V. Direktorenko (Latvia) 0 – 3 57' [0 - 1] Algis Jankauskas 67' [0 - 2] Nerijus Sasnauskas 86' [0 - 3] Lima Severino 85' Marijan Budimir ("Vėtra") sent off
"Flora": Aksalu; Allas, Vanna (78' Kuresoo), Sirevičius, Sidorenkov; Jääger, Vunk, Reim (73' Moishnikov), Kams; Taska (65' Hakola), Ahjupera "Vėtra": V.Žutautas; Budimir, Raliukonis, A.Jankauskas; Sasnauskas, Panka, Butrimavičius, Juška (78' Šernas), Pedro; Severino (89' J.Tarkhanov), V.Stankevičius (82' Azizi)
Before the match, it was revealed that "Vėtra" would be without their defender Andrius Skerla and midfielder Dejan Milošeskis due to a cold.
"Vėtra" started the match very actively, pressing hard from the beginning and controlling the ball 75-80% of the time. However, later the game evened out and both teams had opportunities to score - Gediminas Butrimavičius, Vitalijus Stankevičius, Nerijus Sasnauskas, and Enver Jaager all lacked accuracy in their shots. After a rather dull first half, the teams went into halftime with no goals scored.
The second half started out better for "Vėtra", and their defender Algis Jankauskas headed the ball into the net after a pass from the left side to put his team ahead. This goal woke up the "Flora" players, who tried to attack more, leaving more space for "Vėtra's" attackers.
The Estonian players began to trust in their abilities more, better distributing the ball, but Enver Jaager failed to score twice from promising situations - once missing the target and in another episode, the ball was cleared by a "Vėtra" defender from the goal line.
However, it was the Lithuanians who scored the second goal of the match - after a penalty kick from Egidijus Juška from the left side, defender Nerijus Sasnauskas redirected the ball into the net with his head.
As the match neared its end, Croatian Marijan Budimir saw his second yellow card for a foul on young Finnish forward Juha Hakola and was forced to leave the field, but that did not prevent "Vėtra's" Brazilian Lima Severino from finding himself alone against the goalkeeper and "shooting" too far with the goalkeeper M.Aksalu out of the goal.
